Coop's Bear-Camp 2013

[Justin Crossley]

Nice bear man!

 

[Rizzy]

WOW, now thats a Bruin, nice job!
Are you going to get a tooth aged?

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

We have a mandatory check in requirement in Idaho. I pulled a tooth for them so I should be able to call in about 6 months and get his age. I don't think this was a real old bear based on the good condition of his teeth - not too discolored or worn. I would guess he's a 6 - 8 year old bear. Bear skulls supposedly grow about 90% of their potential in the first 6 years - at least that's what the taxidermist told me.

 

[fillthefreezer]

Dammmnnnnn!!!!!

 

[WV Hunter]

That is a good looking bear. Congratulations.

 

[Nick Muche]

Fantastic bear!!

 

[westside elkhunter]

Congrats on a great looking bear

 

[Becca]

One heck of a bear!! Much deserved you definetely put the time and effort in! Congrats!!

 

[Big Sky]

Way to go Coop! That thing is a tank.

 

[Slim Jim]

What bear! Congrats Darin

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

Thanks everybody! I owe a lot of it to our crew that puts in their share of time, money, and effort collecting bait and packing it up the mountain. Anybody that thinks baiting is a lazy man's game has probably never done it DIY. Thanks Larry, Kurt, Dave, Bryan, Aaron, Brian C., and the Driffil Crew! We had a blast!

We're going up one last time this weekend to help the last few hunters and then pull stands out and clean up. Hoping we can get another nice bear to finish things off right.

MAJRFUN reported in this morning at 7:30 AM that he got skunked last night on bait 4 and at bait 2 this morning. I informed him that he got out of the stand WAY too early this morning!! The two BIG boars on bait 2 are not hitting until between 8:30 and 10:30 AM... OOPS!!! Come on Dave!! Love giving him a hard time. He's a great sport and good man to have around. I'll send more updates as Dave checks in.

 

[Nick Muche]

"Anybody that thinks baiting is a lazy man's game has probably never done it DIY"


That is the truth!!! Especially when done right!

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

MAJRFUN is hunting bait 2 again tonight. Said there's a decent one hitting in the evenings. Apparently a herd of elk came in and wiped out the sweet-feed we had on the bait! I guess a LOT of bear scent doesn't bother them too much - Funny! I'll post some trail cam pics of that when I get them.

DC

 

[robby denning]

Good looking bear Coop and good job. I'd agree that those who think you just drop a donut in the forest and wait a few hours haven't tried it.

 

[Rent Outdoor Gear]

Well, it's been fun... Had a blast hunting and working our butts off and playing in the hills this season. I made a total of 17 trips baiting, hunting, and tearing stuff down on the final run this past weekend. The finale was a HOT one - 98 degrees when I made it to camp on Saturday afternoon. I accompanied Dave on the final sit of the year on Sunday morning.

We got in the stands at about 4:50 AM. At about 5 AM we were shocked to attention by a massive "CRACK"!! Sounded like a tree snapping off. We looked at one another puzzled, but something told me it was all part of the violent bear mating routine. Sure enough, 15 minutes later a sow with a truly giant boar on her tail sauntered toward the bait.

The bears moved closer with the sow in the lead. She circled toward the back-side of the bait and the boar stopped about 25 yards out quartering away. I sensed the sow wasn't going to come in and started to tell Dave he better shoot NOW! As I turned to him, the boar bull rushed the sow and ran her down the mountain with a fury I still don't fully understand. It sounded like a dozen elephants crashing down the hill. It was an exciting and frustrating moment. The bear rut brings the big bears out but they're so unpredictable you just never know if they're going to actually come to the bait or just cruise by trying to pick up the scent of a "woman".

We pulled this set down, pulled the bait, tag, scent bag, trail cameras and did a general tear down of the bait crib and made sure there were no scraps of paper or plastic. We did the same for the other three baits, then tore down camp. It was a tough day in the heat.

Looking forward to doing it again next year!

 

[RobD]

great bear! congrats

 

[realunlucky]

Slow to the party but enjoyed the video and pictures hope to draw a utah tag soon

 

[realunlucky]

Huge bear you took congrats

 

[sanchomaes]

Awesome bear! congratulations

 

[justin davis]

Sweet!